The present invention relates generally to systems and equipment for the adminstration of medical liquids to a patient, and more particularly to piercing pins and tubular connectors used to create a fluid pathway from a medical liquid container such as those utilized in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.
The parenteral and peritoneal administration of medical liquids to patients is a long established practice. Liquids, including amino acids, blood, dextrose, electrolytes and saline are commonly administered to patients over prolonged periods of time. Similarly, recent innovations in dialysis have resulted in the use of peritoneal adminstration of dialysate solution to patients. Generally, these liquids are administered from a glass bottle or plastic bag suspended abbove the patient, containing from 250 to 2,000 ml. of the liquid.
Medical liquid containers typically have an outlet port extending therefrom with the port having a diaphragm adapted for penetration by a piercing pin or spike from a tubing set. When the piercing pin is inserted through the diaphragm, medical liquid flows from the container, through the piercing pin, and by means of the tubing set, into the patient.
It is frequently a necessity that the sterility of the system be maintained when utilizing sterile medical liquids. In particular, in peritoneal dialysis, a dialysate solution is introduced into a patient's peritoneal cavity and is thereafter drained from the peritoneal cavity to the original solution container or elsewhere. In continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, a plastic container of dialysate solution is connected to tubing, which is coupled to a catheter leading to the patient's peritoneum. The dialysate solution within the flexible container is administered through the tubing into the patient's peritoneum, following which the tubing is clamped and the solution bag folded and carried by the patient for several hours while the dialysate solution remains in the peritoneum. After about three or four hours, the solution bag is unfolded, the tubing unclamped and the solution within the peritoneal cavity drained into the same solution bag. Thereafter, the tubing is removed from the solution bag and is connected to a fresh solution bag, whereupon the procedure is repeated. It is therefore particularly apparent that by reducing the size of the connecting mechanism between the tubing and the liquid container, the patient may more comfortably fold the container and carry it with him. At the same time, it is imperative that accidental contact between the patient's fingers and the piercing pin be prevented in order to insure sterility of the system and the prevention of peritonitis.
It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provide a connecting mechanism which is foldable, so as to reduce the size and bulk. It is an additional advantage of the present invention to provide a connecting mechanism that prevents accidental touch contact between the patient and the connecting mechanism in order to prevent contamination of the connecting mechanism and consequent infection of the patient.